VIDEO: Qatar punish Ahly-flavoured Egypt

Egypt were dealt their fourth straight friendly defeat as an Al-Ahly-flavoured side lost 3-1 in Qatar ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe later this month.

The Pharaohs started eight players from Al-Ahly including the entire defensive line and goalkeeper, who conceded three against Haras El-Hodood last week in the Egyptian Premier League, and also had a few new faces in the squad to fill in the gaps left by the ‘Pharaohs Abroad’ and some other regulars who were not called up for this low-profile friendly in Qatar.

19-year-old Rami Rabia, who was playing right-back in place of either Hull City’s Ahmed Elmohamady or Ahmed Fathi, scored his first senior goal for Egypt in under three minutes by tapping-in an Abdullah El-Said free-kick. Qatar then punished Egypt’s set-piece defending by scoring off two corners as center-back Abdul-Karim Hassan, also 19, equalized on the 28th minute before defense partner Ibrahim Maged made it two after the break.

Striker Youssef Ahmed put the match beyond reach in stoppage time with a simple finish from close-range following some excellent work down the left by Abdul-Karim as Qatar avenged their 2-0 home defeat to Egypt in a friendly back in December.

A handful of players made their Egypt debut including Smouha’s Tarek Hamed and Ahmed Hamoudi, who both started, while Hussein Hamdy, Amr Marei, Mohamed Abdul-Fattah and Ahmed Daouda came on towards the end of the second-half.

Egypt, who top their group in the World Cup qualifiers with six points from two games, stretched their losing streak in friendlies to four matches.